Senior Business Rates Officer; temp

Temporary (5 months),Full Time

£31.00 per hour umbrella

Location:

Basildon

Closing Date: 15th October 2026

Essex County Council (ECC) are delighted to be supporting Basildon Council to recruit a Senior Business Rates Officer
Please note his is a temporary opportunity for a period of 5 months, with the expectation of being in the office 1 day per week.

The purpose of this post is to co-ordinate the work of the Business Rates and Visiting team. Undertaking caseload management of billing, collection and recovery of Business Rates, and Business Improvement Districts, ensuring the quality and accuracy of work undertaken by the Business Rates officers and Visiting Officers. It is important that all work is undertaken in accordance with legislation, policy and guidance.

The post holder is required to represent the council in court proceedings for Business Rates.

• Organise and plan workloads, monitoring performance of the Business Rates officers by proportionate quality testing and implementing remedial action where necessary.
• Monitoring performance of the Visiting Officers by proportionate quality testing and implementing remedial action where necessary.
• Management and development of staff in line with corporate guidelines and procedures, including regular 121’s and staff meetings, identifying training needs and performance management of staff.
• Maintain a high level of knowledge in all aspects of Business Rates including case law, legislation, system and national developments.
• Oversee the day-to-day operation of the Business Rates billing, collection and recovery process, whilst seeking to promote efficiency and continuous improvement
• To have an in depth technical knowledge of Business Rates and respond directly to enquiries from rate payers and their representatives
• To have continuous regard for maximising the Business Rates tax base, growth and income collection, and minimise loss through avoidance and delay.
• To administer all Business Rates grants, exemptions, discounts and reliefs in line with the Council’s policies.
• Manage the Business Improvement District (BID) levy collection processes ensuring they are carried out efficiently.
• Liaise with the Revenues & Enforcement Manager and the BID managers regarding levy rules, billing cycles and updates to the rating list.
• Ensure that policy guidelines on enforcement are applied to debts for which liability orders are to be obtained or are to be held in abeyance.
• To ensure that appropriate methods of enforcement and appropriate sanctions are pursued, having regard to the means and circumstances of debtors, ensuring that due regard is taken in vulnerable cases.
• Liaise with other council departments and with the legal section and the courts and other agencies to obtain recovery of Business Rates, initiating or responding to proceedings in the appropriate court and resolving complex issues where necessary.
• Initiate proceedings for the insolvency of debtors ensuring that appropriate follow-up actions are taken.
• Liaise with any enforcement agents ensuring such agents act efficiently, professionally, and with due regard to council policies and national codes of conduct.
• Liaise with the courts, the police and any enforcement agents in relation to applications for committal proceedings for non-payment of local taxes.
• To carry out a minimum of 4% accuracy checking for all staff, keeping performance statistics, and taking steps to remedy any adverse trends, reporting any concerns to the Revenues & Enforcement Manager.
• Monitor the safety and security of Business Rates staff who are home working.
• Assist with the annual billing processes and government returns seeking to resolve…